TAÑADA ON MEMORANDUM ORDER 32: “The only ‘Lawless Violence’ is Pinoys Being Butchered by High Commodity Prices and Inflation”

Former Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada branded the state of lawless violence proclaimed in Memorandum Order No. 32 (“MO 32”) as “fear-mongering,” saying, “the only ‘Lawless Violence’ here is in government and how it is letting Pinoys be butchered by high commodity prices and inflation.”

“I was just in Bicol on the 22nd and the 23rd. The people were inviting; the cities and towns were orderly; the countryside was beautifully serene,” he said. “What was not serene was the 10% inflation in Bicol and the telling absence of NFA Rice from the markets of these provinces. The poor people are hardest-hit. That to me, was the only ‘state of lawless violence’.”

“Memo Order 32 is fear-mongering. The government wants us to feel unsafe when the only thing we have to fear right now is how the economy is being managed. Something is very wrong with inflation, the massacre that is the TRAIN Law implementation, and the short supply of rice. But that is not lawless violence among the people; that is lawless violence in government, as it turns a blind eye and deaf ears to its people.”

“The people of Samar, Bicol, and Negros will suffer even more with this increased militarization, for sure. They are already among the poorest provinces and hardest-hit by inflation. They want the government’s attention and resources to be directed at the real problem—which is inflation and sky-rocketing prices—not at imagined ones.”

Tañada also averred that while MO 32 seems to guarantee constitutional rights, it also bears the “worrisome caveat” of “taking for granted that there will be warrantless arrests and searches.” The senatorial candidate continued: “there is even specific mention of more police/military checkpoints and stop-and-frisk situations.” Checkpoints and stop-and-frisk are exceptions to the rule that searches must be done through a warrant.

“This is asking for trouble; it is not as if the military and the police have the best track record to begin with: they shoot first, ask questions later. Meanwhile, victims have no recourse against these abuses. Even if they get a lawyer, their counsel will simply be dispatched—with extreme prejudice,” he lamented.

Tañada also questioned the issuance of MO 32 through the Executive Secretary, saying it “adds fuel to our gnawing fears about the real state of the health of the President. Is the President not well enough to sign the order himself? He certainly seemed so when he was signing over Filipino interests to China just a day previous.”

Finally, Tañada renewed his call for Congress to review the facts behind the so-called state of lawless violence: “I urge our representatives to listen to us and put our questions to rest. They need to make a definitive finding on the factual bases for MO 32. Make it their Christmas gift.” [END]